Close your eyes
by The unwritten promise
Summary: Running away is never easy. It's even harder when there's someone dragging you back.


**Close your eyes**

**Summary: **Running away is never easy. It's even harder when there's someone dragging you back.

**Rating: **M

**Main Pairings**: Sora/Riku. Axel/Roxas.

**Author's notes: **This is my try out for a scifi fic. I know this is only a slow chapter, but if people like it I will continue it and I can promise a long, lengthy novel with good plot and characters. I've had this story for a while, and although I shouldn't be starting another fic with so many of my others unfinished, I just couldn't resist. So, hopefully people will enjoy the madness I have to come for this story! Please remember to R&R! Criticisms are welcome! But no flames, please!

* * *

It was lunchtime traffic, and Axel was caught dead in the centre of rush-hour. Gnawing away on the straw in his mouth, he huffed and rolled down the window. Wishing for a breeze that wasn't there, he unclicked his seatbelt and pushed his seat back. Pulling the straw from his mouth, he glared at the bitten end. He really should have picked a better week to stop smoking.

"How long does it take, really?" He snapped.

In the back, sprawled across all three seats with his cap pulled low over his face, Demyx gave him a forced half shrug. Lifting his hat slightly, he glanced over his distressed friend. A laugh escaped his mouth, and he let his cap drop, blocking Axel's glare.

"Chillax, will ya? He's only been gone…what? Three minutes? Maybe four?"

Axel gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were almost white. His left eye twitched as the line next to him began to slowly move. His own lane remained still, as if the blockade had deliberately dropped in front of him to piss him off.

Grinding his teeth together, he slammed his hand down across the horn. The drilling _BEEP_ echoed in a chorus with the other drivers. In front, responding to his impatience, the driver rolled down his window and flipped him off.

"Bastard!" he muttered, whispering a further string of curses under his breath.

"Wow, you really need a cig, huh?"

"Gee, what was your first clue, Dem?"

"Hey, hey! Don't bite my head off! It's the traffic you're mad at bro, remember that."

Axel rubbed at his temple, closing his eyes and sighing deeply. After a moment of composure, he was slightly calmer. "Yeah…sorry."

Demyx waved the apology away, a smirk showing beneath his cap. Cushioning his head with his arms, he yawned and turned on his side, facing the seats. "Wake me when we get home, will ya?"

"Mm."

Twenty minutes later Axel was still waiting in the same lane of traffic. Demyx's snores were loud like a hippo roaring, keeping Axel awake and further irritating his twitch. But he couldn't wake his friend. Demyx liked to claim that he could sleep through anything. After having to save him from a powerful earthquake that almost buried them, Axel vouched that Demyx could in fact sleep through an 8.0 on the Richter scale. Something not many people could boast about. And those that could were often too ashamed to admit it.

With his arms folded to stop him reaching for the horn, Axel glanced over the dashboard to see a mop of brown spikes weaving in and out of the heaving traffic. Sora approached the rusty red car, his famous smile lost behind a confused frown.

Sitting up, his twitch still in place, Axel watched as Sora opened the door and slipped inside. For a second he didn't say anything. Staring over the dashboard, he blinked twice, opened his mouth, closed it. Opened it again. Spluttered. Said nothing. Closed it. Tilted his head to a side, thought hard, frowned deeper, and shook his head.

"Sora?" Axel asked, one eyebrow raised. He had never seen his friend of sixteen years look so…lost. It was unnatural, and the slightest bit unnerving. "Sora, what-"

"There's a hole." Sora muttered, his brow so tightly knotted and his nose so thickly crinkled that he resembled a pug puppy. He didn't bother fastening his seat belt. Instead he kept his eyes fixated on the car in front. "Like a giant crater…"

"What are you talking about? Did you find the warden?"

Sora nodded.

"Well, what did he say? Are we gonna be moving soon or what?"

Shaking his head, Sora relaxed his face and let out a heavy breath. It sounded as if he had been holding it for a long time; as if he didn't trust himself to breathe. "No, they don't think anyone in the next two lanes is gonna be going anywhere tonight."

"What?! Can't they just block off the road?"

"There is no road anymore. About forty cars in front it just…ends." He shrugged. "They're moving all the cars onto the third lane across with a crane. They said it'll be a while until the FBI is finished d-"

"The FBI? You serious? Why the heck are the FBI here? It's probably just a satellite fallen from the sky or a slight tremor that's broken one of the foundations, or something."

"Axel, you didn't see it!"

"And you did? With all those FBI agents around you got a good look?"

"I got _a_ look. I'm not saying it was a good one."

"And? What did you see?"

"I told you," Sora glanced his way. "It's like some kind of crater. It covers the whole junction, but there's something…off, about it. I'm not sure how to explain it." He rubbed the back of his head, further ruffling his messy hair. "It definitely wasn't caused by an earthquake, though. And I didn't see a satellite."

"So what do you think did it then?"

"I'm not sure. Could be anything, I guess."

"Excuse me, Sir?"

Axel glanced left. By his window, chewing gum with a pair of dark sunglasses lazily sliding down his nose, was a man dressed in a loose police uniform. His red hair was pulled back neatly, and over his glasses jade eyes shone like jewels. The smile was infectious. Tantalising, even. But definitely lethal.

"I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the car, sir."

Axel's twitch was back, but this time for an entirely different reason. In the depth of his mind, brought on as if from nowhere, a searing pain pulsed through his skull. Wincing, he ignored the growing smirk of the red-haired man and grabbed at his temple, sucking in a deep breath through gritted teeth.

"Axel, you okay?" Sora asked, reaching over to grab his shoulder before pulling his hand away with a yelp. Axel was red hot to the touch, even his clothes. "Axel, what-"

"Sir, step out of the car. Please, don't make me use force."

"Force?!" Sora growled, opening his own car door and slipping out. Standing with his feet on the door, he leaned over the top. "What the hell?! Can't you see he's hurtin'? Just give him a minute, okay?"

The red-haired man smiled at Sora, offering him a quick wink over the top of his glasses. Sora was utterly confused. All around them cars honked for the line to start moving, but none of them were being harassed by devilishly handsome police officer. Only they seemed to be receiving the extra treatment, and Sora wasn't entirely sure why. They had done nothing wrong; broken no laws, so why had they received an official visitor?

Pushing his glasses back up his nose and spitting his gum on the floor, the redhead leaned down to the window once more, completely ignoring Sora. "Sir-"

"Got you!"

"Wha-AH!"

Sora winced to see a young blonde appear from nowhere before crashing into the redhead, tackling him around the knees and sending them both toppling to the floor with a yelp. Flinching, Sora raised himself up and listened to the scuffle, unable to see over the car.

"I've totally got you! Now stay still, I'm taking us back to-"

"No way, Roxas! Get the hell off me right now!"

"Shut up, Lea!"

"I mean it, Roxas! Don't make me hurt you-"

"You won't hurt me…Will you stop squirmi-Ouch! You…you bit me? Lea-Oomph!"

There was the fierce sound of a boot colliding with flesh before a wicked _crunch_ rang out. Sora jumped down from the car in time to watch the redhead stand up. Shaking his head, Lea wobbled slightly, pointing down at the blonde on the floor.

"I warned you, Roxas! I'm not going back! Nobody can make me. Not them, and not you." Walking backwards, Lea spat on the floor just beside the blonde's feet. "Some friend you turned out to be!"

"Lea…"

Lea didn't hang around to listen. Turning on the spot, he sprinted down the road, weaving in and out of the cars and turning left onto the swarming high street. Walking around the bonnet, Sora cringed at the sight of blood on the pavement. It was spotted about in thick patches, but none covered more so than Roxas' own shirt. The white t-shirt was stained a splattered crimson from the leaking blood dripping from Roxas' nose, and there was no show that it was preparing to stop any time soon.

Roxas hadn't noticed. Looking up to where his friend had disappeared, he pounded his fist against his knees and cursed heavily under his breath. "Drat! Lost him again. Stupid, Lea, always making my job hard-"

"Hey, you alright?

"Huh?" Roxas glanced over his shoulder, blinking up at Sora. For a moment he stilled, unable to speak. Swallowing back the spit in his mouth, he calmed his breathing and managed the only word he could think of. "Wha'?"

Sora knelt down beside him, ignoring the way Roxas scooted away from him. "You're bleeding."

"I am?" Roxas wiped his hand over his nose and winced when it came back scarlet. The throbbing in his sinuses worsened and the back of his throat clogged heavily. "Damn…he wasn't kidding."

"Are you going to be okay? Do you need to go to the hospital? Want me to call someone?"

"No, no I'm fine, I just…he hit me!" Roxas muttered, more to himself than to Sora.

"Well, yeah, you did kind of tackle him to the floor. Not that he didn't deserve it. He acted like a right jerk!"

Roxas sighed, covering his nose with one hand and pushing himself to his feet with the other. "No, he didn't." At Sora's raised eyebrow, he shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

Roxas scowled, wiping at his face and only accomplishing smearing the blood further up his cheeks. "Maybe another time. Right now I have somewhere to be. Catch you later…er…"

"Sora."

"Roxas."

"Really?" Sora asked, watching as Roxas began to walk away from him.

"Yeah. Something wrong with that?"

"No, it's just… Hey!" Raising his arm, he yelled after Roxas as the blonde ran away from him, following the same path as the redhead. Lowering his hand, he huffed. "I was only gonna say it sounded familiar. No need ta get touchy."

"Sora…? Sora, who're you talking to?"

Sora turned back to the small red car. With one blurred emerald eye peeked open, Axel stared at him curiously, his hand still rubbing at his forehead.

"Nobody," Sora answered, his goofy smile returning to his lips. "Just some kid."

"Hm." Opening his door, Axel swung his legs around and placed his head in his hands. Breathing the fresh air in deep, he closed his eyes. "What happened to that cop?"

"I don't think he even was one. He left though, so no need to worry." He placed his hands on his hips, tilting his head sideways. "What happened to you, anyway? You feeling any better?"

"I feel like my brain is trying to escape through my ear."

Sora scoffed. "Like you have a brain."

Axel chuckled, opening his eyes. The twitch returned immediately. Collecting saliva with his tongue, he went to spit it out onto the floor before something caught his eyes. The blood had been soaked up by the concrete, but it still remained a putrid rust colour against the floor. Turning to his friend, Axel looked Sora up and down. "You okay? That guy hit you?"

"Huh?" Sora frowned, glancing down to where Axel was looking. The blood was splattered by the side of the door and along the concrete. Thankfully, none was on himself. "Oh, no, that belongs to Roxas."

"Roxas?"

"Just some kid. He got rid of that copper though, so…"

"You sure you're okay?" Axel asked again, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Sora rolled his eyes. "Yes, Axel, I'm fine. The blood's not mine."

Axel grunted. Leaning back to look in the rear-view mirror, he raised an eyebrow at the sleeping form of Demyx. "Suppose we'd best start making a move, huh?"

"It looks like they're starting to shift people anyway." Sora nodded in the direction where a collection of men in black suits were escorting people away from their cars. "Any idea how we're gonna get Demyx home?"

"No point trying to wake him… I'll carry him."

"You sure? I mean, you didn't look so good a minute ago-"

"I'll be fine. I'll pop some painkillers when we get home. Call in sick for a few days and shake it off."

"That bad?" Sora looked worried as Axel stood from the car and stretched.

"Sora, it felt like my skull was caving in." Picking Demyx up from the back, he grunted and slammed the car door shut. With his head bobbing against the redhead's chest, Demyx drooled down Axel's front, further frustrating his aching friend.

"I can't wait to go home and raid the trashcan for those cigs."

"What?" Sora looked up from where he had been locking the old red car. "Axel, you can't start again now! You've done a whole week!"

"Yeah? Well if I keep this up I don't think any of you will make it to the next one. Seriously, you all drive me insane."

"Insanity is only a state of mind, Axel," Sora laughed, swinging the keys on his fingers as he followed his friend through the hoard of cars. "And it's a very happy one, if I do say so myself."

"That's because you're always happy. I'm interested, did your mother pump you full of meds before or after she discovered you had ADHD?"

"Bit of both," Sora shrugged. "She was a crack whore, remember?"

"Touché." Axel laughed, wincing when his mind throbbed once more.

They walked the rest of the way to their flat. Occasionally Axel had to drag Sora away from a window, or a dog, or a person, but it was all worth it when he saw the block of flats nestled between the clinic on one side and the squashed houses on the other.

'_I'm close,'_ he thought. '_So close! Just a few more feet and I can finally taste nicotine again. Sora be damned! I need my fix!' _


End file.
